CSX and Spix's Macaws
by CSX GP40-3
Summary: Tyler Blu Gunderson is a railroad engineer who works for CSX Transportation. While he enjoyed trains ever since he was a chick, he always wanted to be a musician. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the only thing he could turn to in life was the railroad, and he's been stuck doing the same thing every single day, but it all changes when a new engineer comes into play.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Hi! I am back after a short absence on this site with a brand-new story. When I wrote this first chapter, I wanted to make sure it was as perfect as I could make it before releasing it in FanFiction. So far, I think it's going really well, but I feel that I'm going to run out of ideas with the story at some point.

 **Some things to take into consideration:**

This story was inspired by "A Reason to Live", by Fenix139 in the sense that it is a "Zootopia" scenario where there are no humans, just birds. This story uses a bit of railroad terminology that may not be familiar to most readers, so Google is probably your best method of figuring out what some of the words or terms in this story mean.

Some of the things to ignore or take into consideration for this story are the birds' lifespan. For the story's sake, the lifespans of each of the characters are equivalent to that of humans, meaning that when I wrote that a bird is 16 years old, for instance, it is a teenager, just like you or I was / would be. Diet is another. The characters in my story are omnivorous, but do not consume bird-based products (i.e. chicken, turkey, eggs) for very obvious reasons. Also, birds are not really meant to grasp things with their wings, but this is Rio, it's not that big-a-deal in my mind. The birds' postures remain the same as in the movie, only they stand slightly more upright to accommodate the more basic parts of the story (i.e. standing inside of a closed locomotive cab).

Other than that, I hope you all enjoy my new story. I've been thinking about this one since long before I joined FanFiction.

Rated 'T' for language and drug references.


	2. One Day

_Hi. My name is Tyler, but you can just call me Blu. I don't know if you've heard, but I work for one of the largest Class 1 railroad companies in the United States, and right now…_

… _I hate my job._

 **Chapter 1: One Day**

* * *

Golden sunshine bathed an open field, with small oak and maple trees scattered about its edges. The sky was bright blue and but a few clouds hung in the air. A straight road cut through the field of various tall grasses. Railroad tracks crossed the road, perpendicularly, and two steel poles with two red flashers, white signs, and gates were propped around the crossing. Trees and various invasive plants grew in clusters next to the gravel roadbed. Further down the tracks, a tall pole with a single light shone green, and in the other direction, the headlights of a train glimmered in the distance. The nose of the cab bore the letters "CSX", and the train quickly approached the crossing. The horn blared, and the bottom two headlights on the train began blinking. The metallic, and unnatural ring of the crossing gates' bells began, the flashers lit, and the red and white striped barriers closed.

Through the cab window stared a Hyacinth Macaw, with dark blue feathers, and yellow markings around his eyes and beak. He had engine's red throttle clasped in his wing.

"Butch, 'ere, on northbound train Q278 with absolute signal showing "proceed", over,"

"Affirmative. Proceed at maximum allowed speed, over," replied the dispatcher.

"Ah. Nothing like driving trains on a sunny morning," Butch said to himself as he clipped the radio to his belt. He had the build of a lumberjack, and a gruff voice to match. He was wearing his greasy denim overalls and bright green reflective jacket, along with a patch with the letters CSX embroidered onto it.

"Is the yard clear for me to pull in? Over,"

"Uhh…" Blu droned for a second, "Why are you asking me, and not the Dispatcher? Over," Blu replied.

"Oh, hey, Tyler,"

"Please. Just call me Blu,"

"Yeah, anyway… Sorry 'bout that. Wrong channel, over," Butch said, twisting the knob on the radio.

 _I must've bumped the knob while putting it back on my belt. Now, let's try that again._

"Is the yard clear for me to pull in? Over,"

"At milepost 2.0, proceed with caution. Do as the signal instructs if it shows any other aspect. Over,"

"Affirmative. Over,"

"CSX Equipment Defect Detector. Milepost 6.7. Track 1. No Defects… No Defects… Total Axle: 412. End of Transmission," a male, computerized voice sounded over Butch's radio.

• • •

"Hey, Blu!" Rafael said from the other side of the yard. Blu was climbing down from a massive steel locomotive. It was dark blue, and the paint glistened in the sunlight. The engine hummed a low, oscillating rumble, with the iconic squeal of a GM prime mover.

"You're lookin' sharp," Rafael commented, looking at Blu's steel-toe boots, his dusty jeans, and light green reflective jacket.

"What? This? It's just what I work in… So, when did you get into railroading?" Blu asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I heard you were doing it, and that it was fun. I got nothin' goin' on, so…" Rafael replied, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, intermittently.

"I had nothing else going for me," Blu solemnly replied, "I kinda gotta get back to work,"

"My engine's right next to yours, by the way," Rafael said, pointing to another small locomotive of similar shape and size. They began walking in that general direction.

"Oh. Ok, then." Blu said, as they walked back toward the engine.

"Yep. I'll be goin' around with the yard goat, then tomorrow, maybe, I'll be able to start the local freight out to Ohio, if Eduardo doesn't have anythin' else planned for me," Rafael said.

"That's cool" Blu replied, slightly smiling with only hint of jealousy on his face.

 _I never get to do any of that. All I do is stupid switching._

Blu stepped onto the locomotive's ladder, then made his way up the catwalk, and opened the cab door.

"Oh, try not to get your tail feathers stuck in the door." Rafael jokingly said, as Blu closed the cab door, and twisted the latch. As he tried to continue through the cab of the engine, he was stopped by his tail feathers caught in the door.

 _Of all times that this could happen, it's only when someone says something._

Blu turned around, twisted the latch again, then pulled his tail around him before closing the door once again.

"Alright, Blu, the string of empty boxcars just beyond Milepost 1 needs to go to the west end to be sorted,"

Blu heavily sighed, then picked up his radio.

"Affirmative, over," he said, struggling to hide his disappointment.

"What? You don't like switching?" The dispatcher said, "Ah, never mind. Just get to work,"

Blu placed his wing on the throttle, then stared at it for a moment.

 _No, I don't like switching, thank you._

Blu flicked a switch that began ringing the locomotive's bell, then grabbed onto a cable strung on the ceiling of the cab, blowing the horn one short time. He pushed the throttle forward, and the locomotive slowly began moving toward the boxcars several hundred feet ahead of him. Up ahead, another Spix's Macaw stood by the coupler of the first freight car on the siding, motioning, with his wings, for Blu to continue forward.

"Alright, stop!" He yelled, putting his wing up, and Blu instinctively turned the throttle off and applied the brakes.

 _There's nothing I hate more than doing the same damned thing every single day…_

The Spix's Macaw stepped back, then waved again for Blu to proceed. He pushed the throttle slightly forward, once again, and the locomotive continued ahead, but much slower, this time. The couplers clunked together, and Blu pulled the throttle back into its off position.

"Ok. Then he attaches the hoses to the freight cars… Now, he checks the pins to see if they've locked the knuckles together… Usually, he says I'm coupled to the freight cars… Now, he should step back, and give me a "thumbs" up, and we're good to go," Blu narrated the bird's actions, since he's only done this several hundred times. Blu grabbed the chord above, and yanked it twice. The horn blew two short blasts, indicating he was moving backward. As Blu began to back the locomotive up, he became lost in thought.

 _I've been here since 3:00 in the morning, moving trains around with this godforsaken GP40-3. It's a General Purpose engine, I might as well be a General Purpose employee. I've always been wondering when I'll actually get to do something around here, instead of driving the same engine down the same stretch of track. And at the end of the day, after my 12 hour shift, I'll be able to go home, where I'll meet my wife Jewel again, and…_

Blu returned to the present when he reached the west end of the yard, which was but a few hundred feet from where the GP40-3 was parked.

 _Ok… Now for the boring part._

Blu waited several moments inside of the locomotive, while his partner on the ground pulled the pins on the couplers to release the knuckles.

 _Then he should come back out, and give me another "thumbs up", and I'll be backing around to the end of empty boxcars._

"Tyler. Once you get done with the freight cars, you get your lunch break. Over," Eduardo's voice sounded through Blu's radio.

 _Call me Blu, for god's sake!_

• • •

Blu parked his GP40-3 onto a siding, then walked around the controls and exited the cab onto the catwalk, then climbed down the locomotive's ladder. The crushed gravel crunched beneath the soles of his steel-toe boots.

"Oh, good," Blu muttered under his breath as he began walking across the multitude of steel rails. Eduardo stood at the other side of the yard, staring at Blu, holding a clipboard at his side, patiently waiting for him.

"Come on, Blu! Look alive!" Eduardo yelled, "So, what you got goin', today?"

"Well, I just finished moving those freight cars," Blu said, subtly nodding his head.

"Good. After this, I'll have you sort Butch's train. That should last you the rest of your shift.

"Ok. I'll see you around, I guess,"

"Take care," Eduardo finished, then continued about the railroad yard, intercepting the other engineers and yard workers as they milled about their before Blu began walking toward a small building with a blue metal roof, train Q278 pulled in through the yard's south end, just next to where he was standing.

"Oh, good. He made it," Eduardo said, quickly walking back toward Blu.

"That'll be your job for this afternoon," he said. Blu's jaw slightly dropped, for this train looked to be well over a hundred cars long.

"Have a good lunch," Eduardo finished, before taking off, once more. The long train crept to a stop, with Butch walking out onto the catwalk. Blu only watched.

• • •

"Oh, boy… 'Nother one overdosed on Chocolate," Butch said, slapping his newspaper onto the table, then pulling a small steel box toward himself, unclipping the buckles on the lid.

"What?" Blu asked, lowering his sandwich from his beak.

"It's the third time this week, and it's only Monday. You know any Chock-heads, Blu?"

"Not personally, why?"

"Lucky bird. My best friend decided to try it," Butch softly said.

"Yeah? What happened to him?"

"He was hospitalized for a few weeks afterward,"

"Sometimes birds can be so stupid," Blu replied, wiping his beak with his wing.

"So, how are you, today, anyway?" Butch asked, removing an apple from the metal container.

"I'm alright, I suppose… You?"

"I'm good. I heard you've got my train to disassemble after lunch,"

"Yep. I do…" Blu replied. Another Spix's Macaw walked through the break room door.

"Blu! My man! What's good?" He said, "What they got ya' doin' today?"

"Switching. Again,"

"For real, man? Isn't that all ya' ever do?"

"Sadly it is," Blu said, turning back toward the table, "By the way, you were the one coupling and uncoupling the cars to my engine, this morning,"

"That was you in that fancy loco? Geez, I wish I got to drive something like that even once in a while,"

"GP40-3's good," Blu said before taking a bite out of his sandwich, "What'r' you driving, today?"

"Damn GP30. Had to be taken to the shop, again,"

"They haven't retired that old rust heap? That thing's nearly 50 years old!"

"Eddie said that they're turnin' it into a slug, soon," Calvin replied, staring off into space. Blu snorted.

"So, I'm gonna be takin' some empty hoppers out to the Amesbury yard, how about you?"

"I'll be disassembling Butch's freight train," Blu grumbled.

"Ouch," Calvin said. Blu sighed, then looked toward the wall clock at the back of the room.

 _12:47…_

"It just takes a long time," Blu said. Calvin grunted in agreement.

"I've got 'till three, then I'm outta here," Blu continued as he stood up and packed his things.

"See 'ya back out on the yard, I'll be keeping an eye out for your loco," Calvin said as Blu unhurriedly walked out of the room. Butch looked behind him at the wall clock mounted on the back wall of the break room.

"I think it's best I get goin', too. Enjoy your next 15 minutes," Butch said, as he began dumping his things into his metal box. Calvin only stared.

• • •

Blu began walking across the many rails crossing the gravel lot toward his locomotive, which was idling on the siding which he left it.

"Hey, again!" Rafael's voice came from behind Blu.

"Oh, hi," Blu said.

"I see you're gettin' back to switching,"

"Yep. It's the only thing I've ever done around here,"

"Your time will come, just you wait," Rafael said.

"It's not really looking that way, though," Blu replied, "I don't have a very interesting job,"

"You work on a damn railroad, kid. What the hell are you complaining about?" Rafael said playfully and encouragingly. Blu said nothing.

"…Not many people get to drive trains," Rafael continued. Blu continued looking about the yard, seemingly avoiding eye contact with his toucan friend.

"Alright, well, I'll let you get back to work, then we can talk at break tomorrow,"

"Sounds good," Blu finished, continuing back toward his shiny blue locomotive. He then grabbed onto the metal handrail and pulled himself up the ladder and onto the catwalk.

"Time to bring this big guy all the way to the other end of the train to push it into the yard's West end," Blu muttered to himself as he opened the cab door.

 _Something gonna change,_

Blu was sure to tuck his tail feathers into the cab before shutting the door. He walked toward the swinging chair in front of the locomotive's control panel.

 _Here we go, yet again!_

The locomotive's engines began to roar as Blu pushed the throttle.

• • •

It was the end of a long workday. He lifted the rusty latch to his locker, then grabbed a metal box by the handle and set it on the floor next to him. He then reached for his wallet and keys, then stuffed them into his pocket.

"Whoo… The end of another yet day…" Blu mumbled to himself as he walked out of the small concrete building.

"Leavin' now?" Eduardo asked.

"Yup. My shift is over," Blu replied.

"So, you seemed a bit unhappy today. Somethin' goin' on?"

"Nothing. It's just…"

Eduardo gave an expectant look toward Blu.

"Well, I've just been tired, is all, being here at the crack of dawn every morning,"

"Oh. That's fair. Have a good afternoon, then,"

"See you in 12 hours, I guess," Blu replied as he walked through the doorway out onto the gravel parking lot.

"Also, take care of my daughter!" he yelled from inside the building. Blu raised his wing "goodbye".

 _This is my life. Not very interesting…_

Blu slowly and listlessly walked across the gravel lot toward his heavy-duty pickup truck, with steel cabinets mounted to the bed and hi-rail flanged wheels attached to both bumpers. The CSX logo was painted on the cab doors in dark blue. Blu climbed in through the driver side door, then pulled it shut. He bent over toward the dashboard to insert the keys behind the clutch. The engine started rather smoothly. There, he waited for several minutes.

 _Wait a minute. You work on a damn railroad, what the hell are you complaining about?_

Blu stared through the windshield at the tall oak and maple trees lining the parking lot. He then grabbed onto the clutch and pulled, creating the noisy grinding of gears.

 _I still hate my job…_

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, I will get more in depth with the characters later on. Please leave a review for feedback, it is greatly appreciated, and it will help with writing this story (I may ask for suggestions later on).**


	3. Home

**I do apologize for it being over two weeks to upload this chapter, but it's finally here...**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Home**

* * *

Blu pulled the truck into a stone driveway riddled with weeds. There was a small, two story house with wooden shingles situated on a small rise in the land, with a creek running behind it, and the railroad tracks some distance into the woods.

 _Home sweet home. I wonder what Jewel's been up to._

Blu parked his truck just beyond the road's edge. He popped the driver side door open, then stepped onto the gravel and stone dust that covered that portion of the ground. It crunched beneath his boots as he walked toward the house. The front door opened with Jewel peering her head around it.

"Hi, Blu!" She cheerily yelled.

"Oh, hey Jewel," Blu replied, continuing along his way toward the house. He embraced her with one wing and pecked her beak.

"How was your day?" Jewel asked.

"Same as every day," Blu continued past her into the living room, "…So where are the kids?" Blu turned around and asked.

"They should be off the bus at any moment," Jewel replied, walking back into the living room. She was wearing skinny jeans and a dark blue CSX t-shirt, with the logo in yellow printed on the upper back.

"What did I say about you wearing my clothes?" Blu asked Jewel in a sarcastic manner. She only smiled back at him.

 _I just need to take a nap…_

"Oh, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me,"

Blu walked across the living room to a gray sofa with a dark brown, wooden coffee table situated in front of it, where he then slowly eased onto his back. He stared at the white ceiling without any concept of how much time was passing by. He felt his eyelids become heavy, and his mental chatter slowly diminished. Blackness was the last thing he remembered.

• • •

"Yes! I've done it!" Blu excitedly yelled from inside of his bedroom. He was around 16 years old, sophomore in high school. His appearance hadn't changed much since then, and he retained similar facial features and voice. The only noticeable difference was that he seemed happier than now.

It was heavily raining. He was sitting in front of an upright piano, with a single microphone positioned under the bench.

"Maybe this'll make my dad see that I can do music," Blu said to himself as he stood up, pushing the bench backward and side stepping from the piano. The moving of small wooden furniture soon became overtaken by slow, heavy footsteps and the creaking of floorboards coming from outside of the room. The doorknob twisted, and the door was pushed open. Blu reached over to shut the laptop on his desk.

"Hi, dad,"

"Wasting time in here, again?"

"Uh, no! I wrote a song, and I would like to show you," He waited several moments, then he sighed.

"Ok, fine,"

Blu pressed the spacebar on his computer keyboard, and a simple, cheery melody played through the speakers situated on either side of his desk in the corner of his bedroom.

"Alright. This is good, but you can't really make a living off of it,"

"Well, not with this thing, I couldn't—"

"Which is why you should be catching up on reading that book on your nightstand, putting more time into the things that will help you in life,"

"Wait, about the song," Blu replied, knowing precisely where the discussion was headed.

"Look, Blu, at your level, you should be goin' through books like that in a week. You've been at that thing for a couple months, now,"

Blu said nothing. There wasn't anything he hated more than being told that music was a waste of time.

"Now, pack this up, and get back to reading," He walked out of the room, and Blu remained standing in front of his desk.

"I gotta start using my headphones," Blu muttered as he slowly closed the lid on his laptop.

"Robert!" A female voice yelled from several rooms away.

"What now?!" Blu's father walked out of the room just as Blu slumped over his bed and reached over for the gray book.

"Are you harassing our son again?" She askedn.

"Blu should know better than to hide in his room when there's work he needs to do, and why do you always ask it that way?"

"He's allowed to spend time writing his songs, you know,"

"Yes, but there are more important things that he needs to do, Rita,"

 _Yep. Stop trying to convince dad to like me making music. It's not gonna happen. Even if it is my first song, what difference would it make to him?_

Blu stared at the words in the book, and at the indecipherable diagrams.

 _I have no propensity for this!_

Blu slammed the book back onto the white wooden nightstand, causing the lamp on it to wobble. He peered around the door and down the hallway to see what his parents were doing, and they continued discussing something he couldn't quite discern. He turned back toward his desk, shutting the door behind him.

"Alright. Time to finish another song, but first…" Blu said to himself, catching his next step toward his desk. He sneakily turned back around to his bedroom door and peered into the hallway, where Robert and Rita maintained similar poses in the kitchen.

"Good. I shouldn't be bothered for another hour or so," Blu quickly returned to his desk, but something was at the back of his mind. A single word being repeated in the background.

"Dad…" It said. The voice was not his own, but it was painfully familiar.

"Dad!"

• • •

"Dad!" Tiago said, "Dad! Wake up!"

"Ho-gad! Track 2 Clear! Proceed! Over!" Blu exclaimed as he jolted awake, jumping a couple inches off the couch. He flopped beak first onto the thin carpeting almost instantly afterward.

"Oh… You ok?" Tiago asked.

"Yep," Blu groaned, "I'm fine. Whad'ya need, buddy?"

"Uhh… I forget," Tiago nervously replied, then ran off into the kitchen. Blu pushed himself off the ground and looked around the living room.

"What was that?" Jewel yelled.

"That was just me… Falling off the couch," Blu placed his wing on the edge of the coffee table to lift himself off the ground, then rubbed the top of his beak. He walked into the kitchen with a pained expression on his face.

"Blu, what's wrong?"

"I just relived an hour of my freshman year in high school during my nap,"

"That's… an interesting way to phrase that," Jewel said, maintaining a sympathetic look toward her husband.

"I haven't been myself, lately," Blu groaned, looking ready to smack his head on the counter, "Now, I'm gettin' some grapefruit juice, and I'll be in my office," Blu said, opening the refrigerator door to pull out a plastic bottle filled with a light orange liquid, similar in opacity to orange juice.

 _I should be concerned about Blu, but for some reason, I'm feeling inclined just to let him go about and see what he does…_

Blu grabbed a glass from one of the white cabinets above the counter and filled it to the brim with the citrus drink.

"I don't understand how you like that stuff," Jewel said, watching Blu swallow the entirety of the glass in a single gulp.

"I like sour things. That's all… Now if you excuse me," Blu said, walking toward the hallway, "Also, it wakes me up faster than coffee." Jewel watched as he went on his way.

• • •

Late that evening, Jewel walked into the dimly lit room. There was a single window at the back, where the blackness of night resided behind the glass panes. Blu was hunched over his piano with his head resting on the keys and his eyes loosely shut. The lid on his laptop was open, but the screen remained black. Jewel opened the door a crack, which, although the noise of the doorknob was barely noticeable, startled Blu awake.

"Ah! Oh… Hi, Jewel," Blu said, yawning.

"Is everything ok?" Jewel asked with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Why?"

"I don't know… Maybe it's that you've sequestered yourself in here all afternoon?"

"I think I'm becoming depressed," Blu said, resting his head on the piano keys again. Jewel wasn't sure how to respond, although this wasn't the first time Blu had done this.

"So, what have you been working on?" Jewel asked, trying to justify in her mind that her husband's behavior was somehow normal.

"Well, it's not done yet, but…" Blu replied, then trailed off.

"You don't have to be ashamed of your work. It's just me," Jewel intently responded.

 _Big mistake. I hope I can even find the right project…_

Blu lifted his head up and turned toward his desk. On his laptop, he began sparsely typing. Eventually, an exceptionally arranged and ambient melody played from a pair of speakers on Blu's desk. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was the song he showed his father all those years ago.

"This is pretty good, and… happy…" Jewel said smiling, soon giving way to confusion, "Why would you be ashamed over that?"

"It brings back painful memories. It's also the first song I ever wrote. It's not really that good,"

"I liked that one a lot. You put yourself down too much,"

"Yeah, well my dad told me this was a waste of my time, and now I'm starting to believe him. I wrote a bunch more behind his back when I was supposed to be reading this electrical engineering book my uncle gave me, along with a bunch of other things… my… dad… uh…" Blu said, becoming very apparently bothered by the subject.

 _I think I should stop talking._

"Could I maybe hear the others?" Jewel continued, seemingly unaware of what Blu had previously said.

"Tomorrow… I'm just…"

"Well, uh… Good night, Blu," Jewel said unsurely as she walked out of the room.

 _Oh, boy… It's happening to him again…_

"G'night, I'll be up in a few," Blu said, rubbing both sides of his face.

Jewel walked into the dining room, just beyond the hallway and next to the kitchen, where she had her head in one wing, tapping the table with the other.

"What's goin' on with dad?" A quiet voices asked from next to the table.

"Bia… What are _you_ doing up?" Jewel asked in a motherly manner, "Anyway, I think he's just been beat up from working at the train yard. I'm gonna ask grandpa to give dad a break tomorrow, now go back to bed,"

"Ok," Bia said, hopping away from the table.

 _Great… He finally has our kids worrying about him…_

* * *

 **I was a bit skeptical about releasing this chapter because I am not entirely comfortable with writing this specific setting, and I've tried super hard not to make this chapter awkward. If you do _not_ think this chapter is weird, "not well thought out", or "poorly written", please let me know, it will further encourage me to write this story, and if you do think so, please also let me know so I can fix it. I made several large mistakes with my last story, and I'm striving not to make them again...**


	4. Roberto

**Here we are again with this story. This chapter is short, simply because I felt it wasn't appropriate to put anything else with this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Roberto:**

Just after three o'clock in the morning, Blu walked out the front door in his work clothes. Summer was drawing near, and there was a warm, orange glow on the horizon. Having worked on the railroad for nearly a decade with the same routine every workday, he was usually acclimated to early mornings, but for some reason he felt unusually tired. He climbed into the heavy-duty pickup truck lent to him by the railroad.

" _The worst part about this is I already know what Eduardo has planned for my shift…"_

He backed out onto the street and began on his way to the railroad yard. The commute to Wilmington yard wasn't very interesting, and Blu was cruising down the road at 35 miles per hour with his high beams on. Blu stared at the gray asphalt ahead of him with loose focus.

"…a _t least I think I do…"_

At the end of the long road, Blu could see flashing lights. There were no cars stopped in front of them, but he couldn't make out what was beyond the lights. It wasn't until he shed light upon it with the truck's high beams.

"Oh no…" Blu mumbled to himself as he approached the railroad crossing. The sign below the cross buck read "4 TRACKS", and a long string of round hopper cars blocked the road. Blu eased the truck to a stop before the red and white striped crossing gate. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, and once he flipped it open, it began making a little jingling noise. Eduardo's face flashed on the screen, and Blu sighed in relief.

"Good Morning, Eduardo… I'm stuck at Milepost…" Blu rolled the window down and stared at a stone post in the ground, next to the tracks. Blu was attempting to discern the number plates mounted on the stone.

" _1… 2… Milepost 12…"_

"I'm stuck at Milepost 12 at the level crossing on—"

"Yeah, sorry about that. That's why I called. I've gotta ask what Cal's doing down there…. Anyway, don't worry if you're late, we don't have anything to do fer yeh for a little bit,"

 _Oh, great…_

"I'll see you at the yard," Blu finished, before closing his cell phone and shoving it back into his jeans' pocket.

" _Whenever he decides to get a MOVE ON!"_

Blu turned over to look out the passenger side window of his truck. Calvin was walking along the tracks, and saw Blu waiting at the crossing.

"Oh, hey! What's up?" He yelled toward the hi-rail vehicle.

"How much longer do I wait?" Blu yelled back.

"Couple minutes. I'm taking this thing away now, and you'll be the one disassemblin' it back at Wilmington,"

"Wonderful. Just Wonderful," Blu muttered. He twisted the keys in the ignition, and the truck's engine died down, and Blu waited in complete silence for the train to move from the crossing.

" _Might as well get some extra shut-eye."_

Blu pushed himself off of the steering wheel and he slumped into the back of the seat, and before long, he had dozed off. In nearly an instant, there wasn't anything but serene silence, which was soon interrupted by a compressed air horn. Blu jolted awake, blinking rather quickly as he readjusted to his surroundings.

"Great… I'm already having a bad start to my day…" Blu grumbled, twisting the keys in the ignition to start the engine again. The train crept past the railroad crossing, with the last car barely in sight. It was still early, and the horizon was just beginning to change from dark blue to orange and yellow.

Blu sighed, and watched the rounded sides of the freight cars rumble pass. A red blinking light passed the crossing, and shortly afterward, the gates lifted and Blu placed his foot on the gas pedal. The truck rolled over the four tracks crossing the road, then continued on his way to the yard.

• • •

Blu pulled into the yard's South entrance as he would every day. He stepped out of the white truck and slowly walked toward that same building next to the parking lot.

"Mornin' Blu!" Eduardo yelled from in front of the doorway.

"Early as always," Blu replied.

" _I mean always…"_

"So, Cal's not here, yet, so…" Eduardo started, "Oh, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

He peered around the break room doorway.

"Roberto, get over here!" Eduardo called playfully.

"Blu, meet Roberto! He'll be joining us for the next few years,"

Blu stood speechless. This news snapped him out of his drowsiness.

" _Son of a bitch!"_

"You—" Blu started. While he had known Roberto since engineer training school, there was no nostalgia.

"Blu! What's goin' on, dude? It's been forever!" Roberto yelled, holding his wing out for a shake. Blu reluctantly reciprocated this action and put on a fake smile.

"Wait, he passed training?" Blu whispered to Eduardo, with Roberto standing at a distance with an innocent smile.

"Yeah… It took him a couple years. Flunked the classroom course a few times," Eduardo explained, saying it in such a way that a few times was a grave understatement.

"What? That thing was hard, guys!" Roberto defensively said.

" _And yet the rest of us somehow passed it the first time?"_ Blu looked at him with one eyelid slightly, even unnoticeably raised higher than the other.

"Don't worry, Blu. He's with me, today. I'm just gonna show him around the yard,"

" _That's a sort of relief, but how did Roberto—"_

"So here's my plan for you, today," Eduardo began, turning away from Roberto, "So, I'm gonna have you disassemble Cal's train once it arrives,"

" _Called it!"_

Blu accidentally made a displeased facial expression when Eduardo said this.

"Yes, I know. It's my job. It's just that I'm getting tired of it,"

"I get it. We all dislike our jobs, sometimes, but…" Eduardo had a lot of patience for Blu, since he was one of his best engineers.

"With all due respect, sir. Switching is the _only_ thing I've been doing… for eleven years," Blu said, nodding some after he finished his sentence.

"Wait… You've been working for this railroad for eleven years?"

"Yessir," Blu quickly replied, attempting to keep engaged with the situation.

"Who was your manager before me?" Eduardo asked, becoming less manager-like as they progressed into their conversation.

"I don't remember his name, but he had me on switching every day, as well. His philosophy was that the new guys would get more experience by driving the trains places, while the better engineers would sit out or perform other tasks. He was also a Karate instructor, so…" Blu trailed off, and Eduardo waited patiently to say the next thing.

"Then I have good news for you, today,"

Blu looked at him with subtle confusion. Roberto continued standing in the background, seemingly distracted by something behind him.

"I'm havin' you go with Rafael to take a couple of newly rebuilt GP40-3s to Anderson, down in Acton.

"The shop'll be busier than normal, so we'll need you taking those engines down to keep the rebuilding process goin',"

" _Wait, he doesn't mean it, does he?"_

Blu nodded in affirmation before walking away to watch for Cal's train in the dim light of morning. He heard the same horn that woke him up on his way to the yard, and the bright headlights' corona grew steadily as the train approached the yard with its rounded hopper cars.

" _Unit trains are so simple. They're all the same type of freight car… All you have to do is break it up into certain lengths to be pushed down to available sidings."_

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that. I don't know when I'll get to the interesting parts yet, so stay tuned...**


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